1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to mobile devices and, in particular, to techniques for providing end users of such devices with real-time situation-aware data.
2. Background of the Related Art
Mobile devices such as the Blackberry® phone have become ubiquitous in today's society. In addition to providing basic wireless telephone service, such devices are Internet-accessible and include highly-efficient processors and display functionality for rendering rich graphical information that is available to be downloaded to the device over the Internet. These devices also include personal information manager (PIM) functions, such as appointment calendars, address books, and the like.
Web sites such as Google Maps provide end users with the capability of obtaining map data defining a navigation route. A recently-added feature to Google Maps enables the end user to view real-time traffic conditions along a desired route.
Vehicle-mounted navigation devices also are well-known in the prior art. These devices interact with global positioning systems (GPS) to provide an end user with up-to-date location information as an end user drives the vehicle along a given route.